


Distance and the way we Dance

by Rumoris



Category: South Park
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, K2 Secret Santa 2020 (South Park), M/M, Mysterion is also there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:29:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28311639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumoris/pseuds/Rumoris
Summary: In order to drown out the holiday, Kyle and Kenny made up their own little tradition on Christmas Eve. Do anything that is not related to Christmas and get away from the masses who went mad about buying up the stock of entire stores. However, a simple little misunderstanding stirrs up a blizzard in their friendship as they both start dancing around words they are too afraid to utter.
Relationships: Kyle Broflovski/Kenny McCormick
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Distance and the way we Dance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kivea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kivea/gifts).



Kyle never quite got around understanding Christmas. 

As a kid, it usually served as the most painful part of the year with an entire month sacrificed to Jesus and a guy wearing red clothes who kept climbing down chimneys to put a gift under trees that people’ve put up in their living room. Occasionally, the two mixed together into one entity and the newborn was the one doing all the work, delivering gifts to kids all around the world by climbing down chimneys and sitting in a sled pulled by reindeers. A crazy idea, but at least hilarious to imagine.

Sure, Hanukkah was there and it served as an eight days long escape from the worldwide phenomenon, but even that holiday lacked the required volume to completely drown out the Christmas Carols and the cinema industry built on cheesy romantic stories revolving around the meaning of the holiday, and scoring a man. Not even Netflix and its all-knowing algorithm was kind enough to chase the holiday away from his recommendations. Every time he opened the application, great classics and new bundles of clichés flooded the front page he curated carefully over the years.

As a kid, he learned not to care. It was just like any other days in the year with the exception of every one of his friends screaming about presents. Even Stan, who was supposed to be his super best friend, managed to make him feel left out and forgotten, as if something was missing from him and his family. Cartman’s first trip led to his house boasting about the gifts he managed to get through intense whining. On the other hand, Kenny never called or waltzed over the next day waving the newest game he got or pulling the bicycle to their front door and patting his new steed proudly, emphasising that his grandma had given it to him for Christmas. 

No, Kenny’s Christmases were mostly about working, delivering Chinese food all over town and putting away enough money so he could secretly leave something next to their decades old plastic tree. He had no chance to celebrate, and even if he did, he couldn’t really expect the same treatment as his peers with expensive knick-knacks. Just like Kyle, Kenny just stood in silence as everyone showed around their loot, fidgeting awkwardly when someone asked him about his own gifts. They were like two tiny aliens in Christmasland and eventually, this led to some sort of Christmas solidarity between the two boys. An unspoken vow that whenever they can, they will make sure to drop by, maybe make the other’s day a little bit better with their company or box of Chinese food.

“I think we should turn this into our own tradition,” Kyle said once when they were sitting in the small back room of the Chinese restaurant on one of Kenny’s short lunch breaks. 

“You mean, eating cold KFC in the broom closet? Because I could think of other activities here,” Kenny raised a brow as he stole some fries from Kyle, dodging a foot that swung towards his way under the table by pulling his legs up.

“He-Hey!” he jumped a little, but when he tried to steal from Kenny the boy just quickly pulled his basket away and threw him a warning glance. “If you want to know, _YES._ I meant _this_ , dumbass. And not you, stealing my food or doing whatever your dirty mind thought of. Just the two of us hanging out on Christmas, thinking about anything but the holiday.”

“Wait... So you want to get away from Christmas by hanging out with someone on Christmas. Wouldn’t that mean that you end up celebrating Christmas in your own way?”

“Your ego is really hitting the ceiling today if you think your companionship can be considered either religious or fit to be a present.” 

“Why? Aren’t I a gift to this world?” Kenny laughed, even returning the small kick Kyle delivered to his feet, this time finding its target.

Probably, Kenny had no idea how close that was to reality. 

Kyle’s suggestion eventually stuck with them as they grew up and the day with a simple goal slowly morphed into something bigger. It was a day they couldn’t miss no matter what. A day that stood way above Christmas, did not require any gifts, just some company and complaining about the crazy rushes, lines and people. Laughing about all of this since Kenny always finished his small Christmas shopping in the first weeks of December, while Kyle did not care about it at all. 

It was also a day Kyle seemed to allow Kenny the bone crushing hugs and small displays of affection with only mild complaining. On the rare occasions when Kenny sneaked up to him from behind, he was over the moon when Kyle leant into the hug, instead of immediately stepping away growling about people watching and giving them weird looks. Kenny knew he had little to zero chances with the boy, so he remembered these days as his secret presents nobody was really aware of. 

But nothing like that could really go on forever, and the first one to land a hit on the sacred tradition was none other than Kenny. The experience was new and he just read an article about Christmas traditions all around the world.

“We would fit right into a Japanese Christmas scene,” he noted as the two of them sat on Kyle’s bed, trying to punch the living hell out of each other in a video game. 

“And by that you mean…?” Kyle asked and Kenny realized that he had willingly jumped into a pot of boiling water without really thinking about the sentences that would follow and how they would affect everything they had built up until then.

“Kenny…” Kyle furrowed his brows. 

His character was already on the ground, but his concentration was broken as he started panicking, breath hitching in his throat.

“T-They don’t celebrate. Just go on dates and have fun together,” his voice hitched as the room grew hotter. 

He didn’t want to ruin everything, yet that simple sentence seemed to plant an idea in Kyle’s head. The silence suffocated him and Kenny considered climbing through the window, maybe burying himself under the pile of snow Gerald carefully shovelled to one place in the afternoon. In an optimal, extremely lucky case, Kyle would have kissed him and the story would have ended there, however, the air of awkwardness prevented it.

“Too bad everything is closed on Christmas Eve,” Kyle answered quietly.

At that moment, Kenny couldn’t decide what hurt more. The silent but obvious rejection or the fact that he just managed to kill a several years old tradition in one single sentence. 

From that day on, they had an invisible gap between them, slowly growing with each passing year and nurturing something dreadful and poisonous in its depths. None of them really knew how to step forward, what would be the most appropriate action so they just stood still, tiptoeing awkwardly around the edges with worsening chances to get to the other side.

The only thing serving as a bridge between them was their small pact and tradition, but the more desperate they were to walk through it, the more holes they made in the process and for two years they made every attempt to repair it, strengthen the ropes. They did this for two years, while avoiding any kind of serious talk, pretending that at least their current actions won’t ruin their friendship. 

Then it happened…

Two years into their awkward dance routine Kyle finally dropped the bombshell on them, destroying everything in its wake.

“I think we have to stop the tradition,” he started as they walked home under the veil of the night. Kenny stopped just a few steps away, looking back in confusion. 

“I got accepted into Boulder,” Kyle pushed out the explanation. “I have to move there.”

Kenny should have felt happiness for his friend, yet his thoughts were poisoned by jealousy, anger and a little bit of disappointment. Quickly forcing a smile to his face, he pulled the strings on his parka tighter as if the pressure would keep his tears at bay.

“Congrats, dude,” the moment he spoke the dams were opened, but he was strong, he could smile through it. After all, he should be happy that his friend is moving forward with his life, yet the silent tears refused to stop, they soaked into the furry edges of his parka.

“Come on, we will find a way,” Kyle tried to comfort him, but Kenny knew what this meant for them on the long run. 

Especially in the case of Kyle Broflovski. 

* * *

Eventually Kyle moved into a small apartment downtown, with a clear view to a grocery store and a small locksmith store that kept going strong ever since the sixties. The old man probably solved the problems of locals like a diligent superhero, while also making copies of keys in the process. Even Kyle had to make a trip to his shop before he moved in, spending around twenty minutes in the company of the old veteran and the worst coffee he ever had in his life.

But aside from his small every day adventures, and the trips he took to and fro to the university, despite the parties and gatherings he went to, his home never missed a moment to remind him how empty everything had become. Both inside and outside. As if leaving South Park meant that he had left a huge part of himself behind and now when he was actually on the road towards his goal, he felt that nothing in Boulder could fill in the emptiness. 

He brought a switch to ease the silence, upgraded his laptop, but he would often just sit in his small kitchen, staring into his coffee as he tried to find a cure. Many times the answer just seemed far too simple, even ridiculous. 

Even now on Christmas Eve, he only fiddled with his phone as he kept switching between applications, finding the right amount of will power to type, but eventually he just let his head hit the table while his screen went dark. 

Ever since they hung out together, Kenny’s sentence kept playing in his brain on repeat. About couples, Christmas, KFC and dates. Kyle did his best to shove these thoughts out of the way, but they kept forcing themselves back into the picture, growing bigger every time he thought about the boy to the point he had no idea what to do with them.

He liked Kenny. 

That was a conclusion, but instead of happiness waves of fear crashed over his head. If he took a step forward he might ruin their friendship, in worst case Kenny will start avoiding him because things got too awkward due to a misunderstanding. But then again, Kyle rushing to Boulder then refusing to call him was the same in reverse. In the end, they couldn’t talk to each other. 

What counted as a joke or trivia? And what counted as a genuine suggestion? 

With Kenny nobody really knew.

If he had the guts, he would have already asked. Maybe he would have even called Kenny so they could talk over the phone and laugh about people rushing to go on their last minute Christmas shopping spree and push whatever they can find into their carts. 

Sighing to himself, he buried his head into his arms.

He missed Kenny more than he wanted to admit and losing this little bit of connection felt like losing a limb. Actually, all of his limbs. He didn’t even notice when he pulled the phone in front of his face again, sliding Kenny’s contact up and down before he pushed the button.

Holding a breath, he heard the phone ring. It would be only fair if Kenny ignored his call, but after four rings a familiar voice spoke from the speaker.

“How can I help my favourite person this season?” 

“Oh, shut it Kenny,” he growled back, but couldn’t hide the grin that forced its ways to his lips.

“Now tell this without smiling and I’ll comply. Until then you will have to listen to my voice to make up for the one year, you dirty gremlin,” Kenny laughed, in the background Kyle could hear the sound of tires rolling through snow and ice. 

“It’s not like you don't have a phone,” Kyle threw it back at him. “Fuck you, Ken”

“Then come and get me.”

“You do realize that even now, we are talking over the phone, do you? I can’t just drive back to South Park to play hide and seek with you,” Kyle slowly rose up, then he leant on his folded arms over the counter. Maybe a year ago, he would have shoved a handful of snow down Kenny’s coat or act scandalized by his shameless flirting, but now it felt as if everything was back to its original, natural state and his curiosity urged him to see what would happen in case he played along.

Kenny was probably shocked by the answer, because for minutes Kyle could only hear the sound streets, a siren screaming in the distance muting out everything else. Just what did Boulder do to this boy?

“Ooh, we know you love challenges.” Came the answer from the other side.

“If you are still obsessed with orange, then it will be like looking for a clown in a business meeting. I’d not bet on your hiding skills when it comes to survival.” This did it and Kenny was silent again. Kyle could hear that he was probably walking as they spoke, the speaker occasionally let out a rustle as it touched the fabric. 

“Touché,” Kenny breathed, as if he just finished sprinting. “So what are you up to?”

“Asking a Jewish person what he is up to on Christmas Eve,” Kyle rolled his eyes. “Nothing, Kenny. Started the day by doing nothing, and I’ll probably continue to do nothing for the rest of the goddamned evening. Right now, I am drinking coffee, which I’ll regret when I’ll try to sleep and tune out my neighbours singing Christmas carols and watching every children’s movie about the holiday on max volume. I keep finding myself thinking about driving down to South Park and escaping all of this.”

“If I didn’t know you any better, I’d even say that you miss me and you just want to visit me,” Kenny chuckled on the other side. Suddenly Kyle heard a bell ringing in the background and the sound of cars was replaced by a radio. 

Just what was he doing outside? Did Kenny find something or worse… someone to spend the evening with and he was actually in the way, taking away from his time…? Something bubbled within Kyle. An angry and dark feeling that rapidly took over his thoughts, kicking away every warmth. His hands were shaking as he sat up, and took a sip from his coffee as a displacement activity, hoping to keep his self-generated jealousy at bay.

“Yeah, I missed you,” he admitted, poison dripping from his words. “But I think I am intruding on something, so have a nice evening, Ken.”

“Wha---?!” 

It was the last sentence Kenny uttered on the other side.

He only realized what he did when he stared at the phone, showing his bland background with the galaxy and a killer whale swimming in the distance. There was no going back now. 

The phone lit up. Probably Kenny wanted to demand answers, but his calls were hastily muted and Kyle pushed the device far away from himself. Today was always about them and yet Kenny dared to share it with someone else!

Then the more he thought, the more he realized just how irrational his thoughts were. Just who was Kenny to him? A friend. Someone who had zero obligations towards him. The feeling he felt? The jealousy that kept bubbling in the pit of his stomach? Irrational. 

Or at least at first he believed to be irrational, however as he ventured deeper into the fictional life he had built up for Kenny, he realized how wrong this was. Every little thought, kiss, an imaginary marriage made his insides twist uncomfortably.

Suddenly he felt like he couldn’t sit still in his own dark little home. Jumping up from his chair, he started rummaging around his kitchen until every depressing thought was replaced by the ingredients of a recipe.

Instead of the thought of Kenny dating someone, nutmeg, cloves, star aniseed and cinnamon was placed on his counter.

The kisses invited orange, lemon and ginger. Anything that could hurt his tongue in itself.

A vanilla stick fell on his head, so why not, he dropped that too to the pile. 

When he thought of the wedding, it was replaced by a bottle of dry wine, a birthday gift from his group mates.

Everything was ready for Kyle Broflovski to knock himself out for the rest of the evening and soon all he could think of was how to throw ingredients into the water and let the stove boil his anger away.

He hated Kenny, he hated himself, but most importantly he hated that Boulder was so far away from South Park and it turned his life upside down. If he was back in South Park, he might have kept Kenny company and wouldn’t have his head filled with girls of various breast-sizes and hair colors.

As he waited for his strange mixture to boil and the scent of spices wafted through the kitchen, he heard something hitting the ground with an empty clang. Then to his biggest shock barely audible curses could be heard from the other side of the curtain. 

The air cooled down around him, and his stomach dropped as he listened. Grabbing his phone just in case he needed to call the cops, he stepped over the threshold separating the tiles from the parquet and slowly inching towards his window. His heart skipped a beat when someone knocked on his balcony window, a shadowy figure stood behind his curtains, a cape fluttering behind his back.

It was impossible, but Kyle felt like he actually knew this person. Tiptoeing closer, he pinched the edge of the curtain, slowly pulling it away to reveal a person on the other side of the glass window.

Lit by the light of a streetlamp a man clad in purple stood on his balcony, his clothes collecting snowflakes at dizzying speed. For a second, Kyle could only stand dumbfounded, taking his time to observe the snow on the person’s shoulder, slowly leading his eyes up to his face where he counted the snowflakes on his eyelashes that glowed against if black eye mask.

“Tell me one good reason about why I should let you in?” Kyle asked through the glass, folding his arms. The boy on the other side, shot him an apologetic smile, raising a paper bag to his eye level. “Alright good, point,” he nodded and did his best to hide his surprise.

Mysterion shouldn’t be in Boulder. The hero of South Park shouldn’t travel hundreds of miles just to appear on his balcony holding up a bag filled with food. 

“Finally,” the hero mumbled after his body was finally enveloped by the warmth of the living room. “Jesus, I thought I’ll freeze outside.”

“Maybe if you didn’t parade around as Mysterion in knee deep snow...” Kyle noted, brushing some snow off the purple coat. “Take off your boots at least.”

“Can you blame me?” the hero raised his brows in disbelief as he followed the order, soon standing in the living room wearing his black socks. “I had a solid plan and then you just got angry over nothing! I had to climb up holding these! And you had the audacity to put me on hold!”

“Ken, nobody told you to climb up to my balcony. You could have rang the bell like a normal person, I probably wouldn’t have let you in, but that is beside the point,” Kyle told him as he led the boy deeper into his apartment. Kenny looked around like a kitten who just arrived in unknown territories. “Besides, shouldn’t you be with a hot chick right now?”

Kyle didn’t miss the way Kenny’s brows furrowed under his hood, and the strange grimace that sat on his lips when he grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

“Though luck, because the only hot _person_ I want to be around is you…” he stated in a much deeper tone he used for Mysterion. 

“Don’t use that voice on me,” Kyle warned him, yet he let the comfortable lack of distance stay between them. Kenny was surely just toying around like he usually did.

“Then don’t make up stories about people I don’t even know.”

“Have you looked in the mirror? Anyone would assume that you have better things to do than idling around my apartment on Christmas Eve!”

“And that, Kyle, only means they don’t know me.”

Silence settled on their conversation as they stood in the small living room. Kenny’s sentence felt heavy, plenty of new ground to push Kyle into overthinking. Theories wildly kept exchanging place in his mind, forming new ideas with each passing moment.

Kenny came to Boulder only to see him and bring him food. Therefore Kenny still valued their pact made in their childhood, yet he had no idea why he would even consider dressing up as Mysterion and climbing up to his home, instead of just giving him a call.

Deep down, he already knew the answer. Actually he knew it ever since that small slip two years ago, but it was completely new territory he was too afraid to explore.

Gently pushing Kenny away, he rushed back into the kitchen where the spiced water already reached its boiling point, star anise and cinnamon pieces bounced comically on top of the bubbles. He quickly lowered the flame under it, watching as the boiling slowly returned to its calm state.

Kenny sheepishly followed him into the kitchen, watching Kyle’s actions over his shoulder. It took him a glance to realize why the scent of spices lingered around the entire place, and when he saw the bottle of wine suddenly everything clicked into place.

“I hope you didn’t plan on drinking alone today.”

Kyle just shrugged without looking back at him as if stirring the spices required all of his attention.

“You are here now, so _hopefully_ I won’t be drinking alone,” he muttered, probably expecting Kenny to step closer, put his chin on his shoulder as he eyes the strange mixture. But none of those happened and the distance remained unclosed between them. 

As he let out a barely audible sigh, he turned around. “But first, we should eat before the food gets cold.”

Another distraction, but what could Kenny say against it?

Inviting another wave of silence they sat in the kitchen, a hero clad in purple and a common civilian both tried to fish out the best bites from between the oily noodles. Kyle wanted to talk, first to mention that if Kenny got these from the shop right around his corner, they have an awful morning ahead of them, then later je wanted to tell Kenny something that was on his mind ever since he left South Park. However, none of the sentences were willing to come forward, so he quickly went back to his food.

Mysterion, or rather, Kenny on the other hand, was constantly distracted by the aroma of spices wafting in the air. He almost mentioned how for a person who doesn’t celebrate Christmas at all, Kyle seemed to master bringing the right mood to his home. He wanted to comment on his hasty actions too, but instead just lowered his gaze and swallowed his words.

The missed one year sat between them, forming a wall none of them really knew how to climb.

“So how is Boulder?”

“Is everything okay at home?”

They asked almost at the same time, blushing in shame when they saw the other quickly wanting to retreat their question to let the other answer first.

“You first,’ Kyle quickly threw the ball back at him.

“It’s the same as always, I guess. Cartman started a pyramid scheme, so now he is trying to get everyone on board and--”

“Kenny, who the fuck cares about what Cartman is up to?” Kyle raised a brow. “I meant you.”

At this the blonde just sat in silence, not really understanding how to react or what to answer.

“It’s as okay as okay it can be. Kevin moved out, so now it’s just the four of us. Or at least until Karen graduates. I saved up some money, so hopefully I can get her out of the family house.”

“And what about you?” Kyle kept pushing forward. 

“I manage. Somehow I always do.” Came the short answer, as Kenny pretended to focus all of his attention on eating. It was clear as day that something was bothering him, but he just couldn’t voice his problems or rather, felt embarrassed after all the dramatic antics he went through for the day.

"Is this why you travelled for hours?" He sat back, pushing the white box to the side. Even in the dim light of his kitchen, he could see that Kenny's gears were turning at rapid speed, but he could also see that he won't see a single answer from the boy. 

He heaved a sigh throwing his fork in the sink, as he decided to get back to his initial plan leaving the youth dressed as Mysterion sitting alone. He was about to turn back and ask him about his preference in wine, when he changed his mind. 

Watching as the red liquid quickly poured into his mixture, he started heating it again, and the spices slowly re-merged when he stirred them up channelling all his disappointment and anger into these simple tasks. 

He could hear the chair screeching against the tiles as Kenny stood up, but his only reaction was a silent huff, he couldn’t let the alcohol boil out of the pot.

“I…” He could hear Kenny uncertainly stepping closer to him. “I actually came here because I missed you and wanted to surprise you by getting food and climbing up to your window being cool and mysterious. And… Someone you used to idolise back in school.”

The words followed each other at a frantic speed, Kenny barely left any gap between them so Kyle could have a chance to process what he had heard. He didn’t answer at first, just took out two mugs from his cupboard, setting them next to the stove as he silently measured their drinks. 

He didn’t even realize how close Kenny stood until he turned around and almost knocked him in the side. 

“Alright, first take that shit off,” he commanded, brushing the hood away from Kenny’s blonde locks and pulling on the knot that kept the black mask in its place. Kenny quivered, his entire body tensed up when Kyle pulled the fabric off his face and pushed a steaming mug into his hand as he leant against the edge of his counter.

“And now, talk. Why would you do that? You have a family, Kenny.”

“What says you are not part of my family?” he asked, lacing his gloved fingers around the mug. He knew exactly where he wanted to take the conversation, but the gap between them was still scary, almost too wide to jump over by using simple words. “I missed you more than I miss my own family when they are away.”

Kyle was speechless, he lifted the mug to his lips and hoped that warm alcohol might get him out of the situation. He was getting more and more annoyed with the vagueness of their conservation, but even after half of his mug was gone he had no idea how to tackle his problems.

Letting out the breath he did not even notice he was holding.

“What am I if I am more than family?” he asked, taking a small step closer, until he could feel the heat from the mug Kenny held close to himself. “What would that make me, Ken?”

“I wonder… 

“Maybe if you would stop waltzing around the topic you would even get a clear answer.”  
“So you won’t bite my head off?” Kenny raised a brow questioningly.

“If I wanted to bite your head off I’d have done that the moment you climbed up my balcony. Come on, Ken, don’t make me ruin your big moment.”

“Ruin what? You mean this?” The space between them disappeared as he planted a kiss on Kyle’s lips, leaning forward until the steaming mugs awkwardly separated them. “And this?” He kissed Kyle’s cheek, secretly enjoying the fact that their hands were bound. “And maybe… this?” However when he leant down to kiss the other’s neck, Kyle started shaking his mulled wine dancing from the movement, leaving its mark on their clothes, but Kenny kept going once he heard the laughter bursting forth. 

He couldn’t believe that the always serious Kyle Broflovski would be ticklish. 

“Do it properly, or I’ll throw my drink on you,” Kyle warned him, playfully giving him a shove.

“Well then,” Kenny cleared his throat, “how about turning our little tradition into an anniversary.”

This was it, the perfect solution to get back at the holiday that kept making them feel miserable ever since they were little kids. In the kitchen filled by the scent of spices Kyle gently take away their mugs and slid them on the counter as he did what he should’ve done two years ago when the possibility first emerged between them.

He pulled Kenny close by the hem of his ridiculous purple cape and gave him a proper kiss, brushing their lips together until they were both out of breath,

“Was I clear enough with my answer?” 

“Could you repeat it again? I think I missed a word,” the blonde gave him a cheeky smile, but Kyle gladly gave him what he asked for.

**Author's Note:**

> Merrryyyy Christmas, Kivea! I was your Secret Santa this year so I tried to whip up something fluffy and light, with a little bit of waltzing around. 
> 
> I had fun writing this fic, also I ended up learning a lot about traditional Hannukah foods and how mulled wine just edged itself into the mix. I might even say, whatever Kyle just threw together was actually based around an existing recipe I know :'D
> 
> Many many thanks to Stars for reading this before posting! ;;


End file.
